A jury heard how a prominent Plymouth figure accused of groping 10 young men and a boy was vetted at the highest level by the Royal Navy as part of his secretive work in Gibraltar.

Charles Howeson, aged 68, told the jury at Bristol Crown Court that after leaving the second-in-command post of HMS Cleopatra he was posted to Admiral command in Plymouth for two-and-a-half years to carry out “NATO counter terrorism work”.

He told the jury: “I had a highly sensitive job. What it stated on the door tally wasn’t quite what I did”.

After promotion to Commander he was then posted to Gibraltar to an “equally sensitive” role “if not more sensitive” which he explained the Royal Navy called the “Operations and Plans and Intelligence” department.

He added: I was responsible for all the ships coming into Gibraltar. All of them.”

However, he left the Royal Navy after what he had previously described as a “triple whammy” of tragic family events.

He was asked by his barrister Daniel Janner QC what his plans had originally been. Howeson explained that he would have remained as a Commander in Gibraltar and gone to sea as Captain of his own ship before being posted to a senior position with the Ministry of Defence.

Asked about the vetting process for such work he replied: “At that time there were three levels of vetting.”

Charles Howeson is a former Royal Navy officer

He said the “normal” vetting was the basic level while “positive vetting” covered “positions of sensitive and secret” nature while the highest was “EPV – Extra Positive Vetting for a few people in very sensitive positions. I held the latter”.

Mr Janner referred to the Royal Navy’s Service Investigation Squad inquiry at the time into the allegations made by sailors aboard HMS Cleopatra.

Howeson said the investigation was “very, very thorough”, but later revealed he had been given opportunity while on board to view the statements by the alleged victims prior to his interview with SIS officers.

He said his reaction to the allegations put to him during his SIS interview was “absolute horror and shock”. He said he refuted each of the allegations saying they were “unthinkable”.

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Howeson also revealed he had written a 13-page account of his movement and actions relating to the allegations while on board the RFA tanker which he had been transferred to following the claims being made.

He said he sealed the document in an envelope and sent it over to the HMS Cleopatra using a rope “within 72 hours” of the allegations being made.

He was later presented with this document and read out the details of the actions he took on those occasions to the jury.

In the account he explained how he had felt unwell and suffered a rare bout of seasickness after leaving Bermuda. He felt increasingly unwell with a rising temperature and had “aching legs”.

After his transfer to the RFA tanker Howeson was bed-bound with flu for three days before he was able to write his report.

The report explained in detail the preparations for the man-overboard drill and his collision with another sailor after he tripped on the bridge’s blackout curtain. His account included strenuous denials that he indecently assaulted anyone.

In response to questions by a jury member, it was revealed both the prosecution and defence teams had seen a final Admiralty report of the inquiry into the allegations. Howeson said he had only seen the report when it was presented to him a month ago.

The jury heard he was asked directly by the SIS officers if he had any “homosexual tendencies”, to which he replied “no, and I’m quite positive on that” citing his wife and then two children.

After explaining he was given a lift to Admiral Hogg’s home after his SIS interviews by one of the officers, where he met his wife who took him the rest of the way home, he was asked if he was friends with the Admiral.

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Howeson said his wife was friends with Admiral Hogg’s wife, adding that he had served under Admiral Hogg “when he was a commander and I was a cadet”.

Howeson said: “We’re friends now. It’s very difficult for a Lieutenant Command and an Admiral to be friends.”

Mr Janner replied: “Like a barrister and a judge?”

Howeson, noting Judge Mark Horton’s intense glance at his barrister, answered: “There’s a huge age range in age and seniority” which prompted laughter from the jury.

Charles Howeson used to be in the Royal Navy (Image: SWNS)

The jury heard Howeson was later phoned by the SIS to be told it had been examined by Royal Navy lawyers and there was no further action to be taken.

When questioned about an alleged attack on a young boy at his property Smallack House in 1985, Howeson said he did not move there until 1987.

The alleged victim, who identified Howeson from picking him out from a series of images, had told the jury earlier in the trial Howeson had allowed him to ride his Honda 250 Superdream motorbike and taken him to a nearby field to learn how to shoot an air rifle.

Howeson told the jury he had not owned an air rifle, claiming he only owned a licensed shotgun which was kept secured in a loft. He also explained he not only did not own a 250cc motorbike but he had no such licence to ride one. He admitted to owning a small 80cc Suzuki moped which had been brought from his former home in Cornwall to allow him to commute to work.

When asked by Mr Janner if his face was often in the local press, Howeson replied that “rightly or wrongly” he appeared in the Plymouth Herald “frequently” sometimes with a picture. He noted how the Herald had an extensive photographic library, adding: “They have a lot of pictures of me in it.”

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At one stage Mr Janner read out an “officer’s confidential report” on Howeson from his commanding officer at Gibraltar Rear Admiral Biggs, following his request to leave the Royal Navy.

A departmental report from Air Commander RAF Lovett said Howeson had been responsible “for setting up the tri-Service Operations and Plans Division in our embryo Joint Headquarters.

That it is up and running at some speed in two months before the official ‘go-live’ date is a reflection of his vitality and capacity for sustained hard work. With his marked enthusiasm he is a point of inspiration for his team and gets a lot out of them. As a Staff Officer he had great output and expresses his ideas with clarity: he is an impressive orator who commands immediate attention, and his writing, although not always as concise as one might wish, is punchy and easy to read.”

Former Naval officer Charles Howeson

The ‘general report’ completed by Rear Admiral Biggs noted at how Howeson had been “beset by a number of domestic tragedies that could have destroyed a lesser man. He, though, has carried the burden, cared for his family and continued to do his job with efficiency and flair. He has shown that he has deep reserves of moral courage, unswerving determination and unquestionable loyalty to the Service”.

The Rear Admiral notes how Howeson was “blessed” with a “colourful, bubbling personality, a delightful sense of humour and a relaxed and confident manner”.

He wrote how people “look to him [Howeson] for leadership and he never fails them; but he does dominate the stage ad can sometimes deny others the opportunity to display their own initiative. He has a good intellect, an agile mind and sound powers of reasoning. He works fast and is impatient of delay, and it is perhaps this latter quality that occasionally leads him to see things in rather blacker or white terms than is actually warranted. But above all he is an outstanding achiever whose successes far outweigh any minor or temporary shortcomings.

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“Sadly Howeson has opted to leave the Navy on his return home from Gibraltar, and the Service will thus lose a most able and colourful character with enormous generosity of spirit and all the qualities for successful Command at sea. Were he to change his mind I would recommend him strongly for this and for EARLY [sic] promotion to Captain when eligible.”

The jury were shown a promotional video for the Plymouth Area Groundwork Trust which explained the ideals and actions of the organisation. Filmed by the BBC, it included footage of the Queen opening the Groundwork’s headquarters at the Royal William Yard.

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Howeson told the jury he would visit Drake’s Island at least once a week and take a circular tour of the entire island. He said the ultimate aim was to see it handed over by the Crown Estate who owned it at the time, to become “a public trust for the people of Plymouth”.

When asked how he first heard of the allegations, he said he was met by Scott Norman, chair of the Trust saying there was “some unpleasant allegations” made about Howeson by members of staff”.

Howeson said he was not given any names or details other than the complaints were “sexual allegations”.

He said he responded with “shock… horror”. Howeson said he was advised by Mr Norman to go home and consult a lawyer. However, he was told he was unable to use his ‘normal’ lawyer because it was the one used by the Groundwork Trust. He instead used a “distinguished lawyer” from Bristol who told him his position was “untenable”. Noting there was a “group of employees” making allegations which were “similar” he said the lawyer told him he had experience of such situations and chief executives “never go back when something has reached this stage”.

Howeson said he was never interviewed and never went through any investigative process until his arrest years later. As each allegation was read out to him by Mr Janner, Howeson strenuously denied each one.

Charles Howeson is on trial at Bristol Crown Court (Image: SWNS)

He said he felt it was “a fait accompli”, claiming the investigation by the Trust itself had concluded before he even sought legal advice.

Howeson said he recognised that “this would cause great damage to an organisation that quite frankly I loved and had built up.

“You may feel you’re very important but the organisation is more important. No sailor’s more important than his ship”.

He wrote a letter of resignation, and Mr Janner read out a letter from Mr Norman to the Trust’s partners to let them know Howeson had resigned due to him being “under stress for some considerable time”.

Mr Janner asked Howeson if he was under any conditions – specifically whether he was told he could not work with young people or children.

“Absolutely not,” replied Howeson. “There were no conditions”.

He said he received numerous letters of thanks and appreciation for his efforts and work for the Trust.

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The jury also heard he contacted a member of staff, to ensure a two-page supplementary article he had written for the Plymouth Herald about the proposals for Drake’s Island was still to be sent.

He also revealed that while he was unable to return as an executive director to the Groundwork Trust he spent eight months as a paid consultant writing a detail submission to the Crown Estate for the future plans of Drake’s Island.

He told jury the ultimate objective and his “personal challenge” was to see Drake’s Island turned from “a derelict embarrassment to become a publicly owned trust, to allow them [the public] to access it and a sustainable maintenance regime” put in place. He had earlier said the population of Plymouth had were “thoroughly ashamed” of the state of the island, claiming “it should have been the jewel in the crown of the 27 miles waterfront” instead of being “derelict and covered in seagull droppings”.

Howeson, of Craigie Drive, Stonehouse, denies 11 counts of indecently assaulting young men and a boy and one count of attempted buggery, charges which date from 1985 and 1994.